


what the water gave me

by ayahinas



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU - River Deity and Human, F/M, Shapeshifting, also it's more tg ayato rather than re, dragon!ayato, idk how to tag stuff here i'll probably add more later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 16:03:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11877969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayahinas/pseuds/ayahinas
Summary: ayato saved the girl once when she almost drowned in his river. he did not expect her to return there, and he did not expect to grow close to her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is very loosely inspired by spirited away. i've uploaded two chapters on tumblr already at ayahinas/kirishimahinami urls. I hope you enjoy it ;;

ayato hated humans.

as a river god, as a guardian dragon, he had to constantly bear with them frolicking around his river. and he hated it.

they were no good, low beings, and their only purpose was to send the world into ruins for their own selfish reasons. they were weak, they didn’t care about anything except them, they threw trash and litter into his river, they killed and robbed him of the fish he raised in said river, and they were utterly annoying and two faced – how dare they ask for a savior when they are the ones causing a mess for gods in the first place?

he never ever liked them, even when he was younger and his father let him and his sister watch them across the river he once ruled. they were nothing interesting, really. yet his father and sister watched them as if they had just showed them magic never seen before. ayato grew bored of them quickly, and never thought much of them then. but then they did terrible things, things that should’ve made his father change his form and protect his river.

arata did nothing to them. he refused to, even if he did change into a dragon. all ayato remembers from his father now is how he told touka to take ayato and run, find their own rivers and settle.

ayato never heard from his father again.

so he really did wonder what the fuck was he doing now, trying to help this kid and not letting her drown. well, she seemed just a bit younger than he is, but it’s not the point. the point was that she was tiny and drowning. he saw what happened, she was feeding the fish with her parents when she decided lean closer in to the edge and fell into the gushing waters. as he said before, she seemed light and short, and the water easily swept her away, to the horror of her parents.

he caught her, though, his tail keeping her in place. he was in his dragon form – blueish, with a dark, royal blue mane. his body was long and lithe, although small. he was only a young dragon, after all. could be mistaken for a sea serpent, really. her eyes, although begging to be closed were kept wide open, her gaze stuck on his face in some kind of shock, up until the very second she started to lose consciousness.

he could just let her die here. it’s not like anybody would expect her to live after being this long underwater, but something told him he shouldn’t. maybe it was the way the fish she fed surrounded them, maybe it was the fact she had looked at him in the eyes and didn’t fear him.  
  
ayato figured that for now, he shouldn’t ponder about not wanting the girl in his river.  he laid her unmoving body on his tail, and carried her with it onto the surface, careful to keep his tail out of sight from her parents. he swam away from the area then, before people would try to understand how she got back on land.  
  
as far as he cares for now, he just made sure his river was clean from any more trash.

-

hinami loved the river.   
  
she has been there only once, but the place was intriguing to her. the first time she went there was the first time she had ever went out with her parents for any sort of outdoor activity. she was twelve. hinami had a few medical problems that caused her to have sensitive senses. she couldn’t really enjoy the stench or loudness of any city, so the she and her small family had to settle on a picnic in the mountain near their village. it wasn’t even a long walk to there, so hinami could really enjoy the trip without feeling sick.  
  
 _there were many things to enjoy on the mountain, but the one hinami decided she liked the most was the river that passed through it. it had a small cabin near it, eerily clean, but when she and her family found the place they thought nothing of it. probably a fishing cabin. the fish that lived in the water were colorful for river fish, and hinami found herself staring at them as she fed them._  
  
and then she fell in the water. hinami doesn’t remember what happened while she was in the water. all she remembers is shining eyes and the feeling of something circling her. she woke up half an hour later on solid ground, her parents fussing on her. her mother’s eyes were lined with tears as she moved the damp brown hair from hinami’s face, and her father falling to the ground, sighing with relief and murmuring about how much he’s thankful he decided to become a doctor when he was younger.   
  
they left almost immediately after she woke up. ryouko and asaki went and organized everything they brought with them, and hinami was left, staring at the water. golden and reddish fish seemed as if they were stuck in their place, staring back, and the girl crouched to look at them closer. she raised her hand to touch them from the surface of the water, very careful to not fall again, but they all immediately scattered.   
  
“hinami! we’re leaving!” she heard her mother calling her, stood up and left hastily.   
  
now, hinami is fourteen. she was a lot less sick than she used to be, and her parents finally let her go out and enjoy herself properly outside. her favorite pastime used to be reading books, anyone could tell that, but now that she was finally able to play outside properly she felt that it was going to change.

after all, going on an adventure is always more exciting than just reading about one.

today, she decided she was going to revisit the river.

she took the path she and her parents took two years ago, a narrow trail of earth, surrounded by trees and small shrines for the forest gods. the trail was rocky and hinami’s feet felt the bumps of the rocks through her sandals. she soon reached a slope that was the start of the mountain, and started running through it. it wasn’t very steep, but she panted as reached the end. she was always quick to tire, but she didn’t let it stop her.

the girl looked around through the trees and bushes for the old clearing she remembered so vividly, and managed to find its trail hiding under a bush that wouldn’t manage to block her no matter how hard it tried.   
  
the water was as she remembered, clear and gushing, and she smiled widely as she saw the shimmering gold and reddish fish in the water. the cabin was also still standing tall and proud. hinami took off her sandals and sat on the edge of the river, which seemed calmer than usual. the fish came around her feet when she let them in the water, and she giggled.   
  
she let her body lay on the grass as her legs lingered in the water. she wondered that if she told her parents how nice it is here now, they’ll be willing to come to have a picnic here again. they’ve been against it since the accident, but once they see she’s okay after being here all day, they might change their mind.

lost in her thoughts, hinami didn’t realize that all the fish that were near her swam away. there was a rustling sound from the water, and in a few seconds the girl felt  _scales_ under her feet. she immediately brought her legs up, backing away quickly from the edge of the river.

she gulped, and stayed frozen in place for a few long seconds, but when she realized nothing came out, she came closer to the edge, her arms holding onto the ground tightly as she let herself look inside the water. it was sort of hard to make out, but she did manage to see a long, long creature swimming quickly.

she suddenly realized where its face was, and to her shock, it was staring at her back. she could swear it was glaring. it’s… body? tail? whipped through the water, causing water to splash on her full force. it immediately swam away afterwards, faster than anything she’d ever seen.

after recovering from the initial shock, she stood up, fixing her now soaked cloths. creatures like these were supposed to live in the deep sea, she thought to herself, but she guessed that this adventure only gave her more things to learn about.

hinami shivered from the cold breeze that passed by her, and realized the sky was darkening. she might get a cold if she stay here for too long now.  she would have to return another day to explore more. now, that she saw a bit, she only wanted to know more.

-

the fish always told him when the girl came.

she came every other day, according to them, and she seems to be attached to his river. the entire thing kind of pissed him off, because he always tried very hard to not let people into his territory. he thought that the first time she came here she realized she’s unwanted – he splashed a good amount of water on her and he  _knows_ she has seen his glare.  

so he decided to tell her to buzz off properly the next time she came. there was no avoiding it. although the fish did told him she disappeared for a couple of days as of recent… nonetheless, he could smell her from a mile away and she was coming here now.   
  
he sat on the staircase that lead to the entrance of his cabin in his human and waited, his arms resting on his knees. like he expected, the girl appeared a few minutes after he noticed her scent. she wore a white blouse with a beige cardigan above it, paired with standard long jeans.  not that it mattered, of course, what mattered was the fact she  _brought a fucking suitcase._

did she go insane and run away from home? his territory is not a place for her to calm down when she’s having a hissy fit!

“hey! you!” he yelled at her direction.

her head snapped at his direction and her heart pace quickened. to think this was the girl that stared at his dragon form head on  _twice!_ was she actually more scared of him in his human form? maybe she’s just stupid. would explain why she kept coming back here.  
  
“y-yes?” she was staring at the ground nervously. her eyes were reddish.

“go back home. the area here isn’t fit for the likes of you. there are a lot a wild animals here that go out of control very quickly. a lot of people got hurt recently. you’ll get eaten, idiot.” he answered in hostile tone, arms crossed. she gulped. honestly, he didn’t even lie, there were plenty of bad spirits to haunt her and gobble her up here. she just never was in the night in order to see it.

“…i’ll be fine. i’ll sleep in the cabin. if i will feel in danger i’ll lock everything until it’s gone.” she said and tried to go ahead into the cabin. ayato sighed and held onto her arm. she tried to release her arm, glaring at him as he dragged her to stand in front of him.

“listen, pipsqueak. go back to your parents, this is no place for temper tantrums. i don’t have time for this bullshit.” nor did he have the patience to deal with it. ayato just wanted to live in his river quietly, did he really ask for too much?

she frowned at him, and pushed back his hand from her arm. “i don’t have anywhere to return to and you don’t look so much older than me.” so she at the very least had the guts to talk back. the fuck did she talk about, though? he saw her parents before.

“you don’t have a place to return to? care to explain? because i’m not letting you stay in  _my grounds_ without a reason.” he froze as the words came out of his mouth. shit, he let himself slip. hopefully she won’t ask what he means by his.

she hesitated.

he stared.

“…my father was involved in some shady business before. left it for me and mom. those bad guys… they found him a few days ago, and…” she trailed off. ayato didn’t need her to continue. it was obvious she wasn’t going to see her parents anymore.

“i come here a lot. this place calms me. the cabin always seemed empty, so i thought…” there were tears in her eyes. ah, fuck. this is not according to the plan.  “i never saw you here, so…”   
  
“fine, fine, i got it, don’t cry! ugh… stay in the damn cabin if you need it this badly. i only… uh, own the area. it doesn’t matter. you probably won’t see me a lot, anyway.” he said and pushed her lightly towards the cabin. “just think of it as a temporary thing, or something.” he blurted and turned to leave. he isn’t ready to deal with this.

“where are you going?” she asked as she saw him going towards the woody area in the mountain.   
  
“…eh, home, i guess. go inside the cabin already, it’s already dark, something’s gonna come and eat you.”

“…hypocrite.” she whispered, pursing her lips.

“what did you just say?”

“…you said there are tons of bad animals here. one of them can eat you…” she looked away, but answered nonetheless. ayato knew that it definitely was not true, but still he couldn’t help but feel the hit to his ego.

“shut up pipsqueak. i can handle myself. i’d show you, but that’s a waste of time.” he huffed.

she gave him a glare. the girls was just about to close the cabin’s door when she said one last sentence. “prove it and show yourself here tomorrow then.” and then she shut the door tightly. ayato punched a tree as he realized he was played right into that trap.

he huffed again and left the area.

meanwhile. in the cabin, hinami just hoped he didn’t realize that she just didn’t want to be left alone.


	2. Chapter 2

it was seven am. ayato grumbled as the morning sun shone on him through the water. it was bound to be a tiring day, with that girl he practically took in. he didn’t feel like moving and taking care of the matter. he was in his dragon form, curled up like a snake and resting on a bed of smooth pebbles, and that’s how he liked to spend his day.

well, that is until his fish, those  _traitors_  decided  _they_ didn’t like him spending the day resting. they nibbled on his scales, and while he tried shooing them away with his tail, blowing them back, but they kept returning. they seemed rather adamant about getting him up. they straight up told him they want him up. he wasn’t stupid, he knew why – he may not like the human much, himself, but she has been feeding his fish, and they like her. if she was feeling disturbed by something, the fish only had ayato to handle the situation. they cannot change forms themselves.

so he rose as they asked. he’d rather just deal with the girl if it means his river won’t turn against him. he got out of the river and changed his form, dressed up and headed to the clearing. well, he had to come there anyway, so he guessed being early won’t be that bad. better to finish things quickly.

he got to the clearing quickly. it was quiet, as if the girl didn’t even exist there, but he could feel her presence from inside the cabin. he skipped to the entrance quickly and attempted to open the door regularly, but the door didn’t budge. not surprising, after all what he said yesterday about how it’s dangerous in the area he would be more annoyed if she hadn’t.

he knocked on the door. hard. the only reason he’s not barging in was the fact is that is cabin was  _his._ he may have not stayed a lot in his human form, but when he had to, this cabin was his house. he can’t really afford to break the damn door.

he heard a loud thump noise through the door. he figured she fell or something. was this something regular? falling into a river, falling onto the floor… what’s next? he sighed as he heard her shuffling to the door, opening it swiftly.

“…good morning.” she seemed as if she was surprised he was actually here. maybe she thought he wouldn’t come again, considering she just sort of made it sound like he should yesterday. but whatever, what she wants to think doesn’t really matter.

“well, i’m alive. you asked for proof, so here i am.” he announced. he probably should be asking her about how is she feeling and stuff, because the fish felt some sort of discomfort from her, but he was not built for that kind of talk and didn’t even want to attempt it.

“….ah. that’s good.” she mumbled, her disheveled brown hair covering her eyes. as expected, the fish don’t lie. she does not seem to be in a good condition. he sighed, he never had to deal with things like these! as much as he hated humans, most of them never really had stayed around to explore. he never had to take  _responsibility_ for them. that being said, if she’ll stay here, he has no choice. it in his job requirements; the living beings that have an effect on the river and its surroundings are to be handled by the guardian deity of said river.

for a long time already she had been coming to feed or play with the fish, and admittedly even though she was human she was also nice enough in order to clean some of the messes other humans left in his river. east to this place, there was a much more populated area that his river passed through; the humans there always litter and throw trash as if it was nothing. when that trash reaches here, she always took it out.

at this point, she was with no doubt, his responsibility.

he broke out of his thoughts, and decided he should probably say something. “so do you need something…? or you’d be fine on your own? i can’t stay here all day, so you better say something now if there is. i’ll try to help, but i’m not promising anything.”

her eyes grew wide, but she didn’t say anything. honestly he can’t even blame her. he never made these kind of exceptions, and only yesterday he was basically telling her to fuck off. he could see she was trying to think of something, but it didn’t seem like she had anything to actually say.

“well, if there isn’t, i’m going to leave for now.” he turned on his heel, ready to jump into the water that sparkled in front of that cabin.

the girl took a hold of his sleeve, though, preventing him for leaving. another sigh. “yes?” he asked.

“…what’s your name, at least?”

oh, right. they never actually exchanged names. he knew hers was hinami, but that’s only because he remembers it when her parents shouted it back then, when she fell to the river. she isn’t aware he already knows.

“ah… ayato. yours?”

“hinami… um, can i ask you a few more questions?… i mean, you said you own the place…”

well, shit. ayato could only hope he can answer her questions properly. “yeah.”

“…is it okay if i add stuff to the cabin? like. i don’t know, a bookshelf, or something… i think i’m going to be here for a while.” she said. god he was so far in this mess, might as well let her. he nodded.

hinami smiled, and then continued. “can i plant some things around here? berries, flowers… you know, it’s kind of an hobby.” her fingers twiddled. she seemed kind of nervous to ask stuff, really. he was surprised she liked gardening, her hands were far from calloused, and in the times he saw her as a dragon, she seemed to like the water much more than the earth.

“as long as none of the plants harm the ones already existing or the fish that’s fine.” he answered mundanely.

she seemed to be thinking some more, her hand still held the edge of his shirt sleeve, her eyes facing up, as if trying to make up a question. “….uhm…. this may sound sort of weird, but… are you aware of any fish in the river that is… eh… sea serpent-like? like a water snake, or something.”

 _ha, that’s me._ he laughed, earning himself a confused face from hinami. he guessed it seemed weird to her, but hey, it is very funny to him. she should wait a few good years from now, when he’s a full-fledged dragon, fully grown. she would not think he’s a sea serpent then, that’s for sure. but that’ll take time, and a lot of it, so there’s no reason to dwell on it.

“no, there aren’t any.”

there are only dragons in this river.

she looked almost disappointed, but there is nothing he can do about that. she cannot know, it can be dangerous to him and the river. he doesn’t know how good she’ll handle that information anyway. humans has the tendencies to fear what they don’t know.

hinami may have remained quiet then, but she was still staring at him, unsure of what to do. his lips formed a straight line. if she isn’t speaking he can’t understand. he may be a damned dragon but he’s not a mind reader.

“…just talk if you have something to say, pipsqueak.”

“…i didn’t notice it yesterday because it dark, but… why is your hair blue?”

she looked fascinated.

ayato figured that he is probably going to stay here for a while more.

-

it was 7pm. ayato had just left the clearing to god knows where, and hinami was left near the river still wondering what is she going to do from now on. she used to come to this place to ease her mind but she never had thought what it’s like to actually live here before. she only really came here because she didn’t know where to go otherwise.

ayato gave her permission to actually live here and do whatever she’d like, more or less, but she really did wonder if she was fit to live all alone like this. after a bit of persuading ayato showed her the woods and told her which parts she should stay away from and what she should do if she runs into trouble.

she felt as if she was going into a whole new mess after the entire incident with her father. her father apparently had been in debt for a yakuza family and worked for them for a long time to pay it, but after hinami was born, he ran away with her mother in order to not endanger either of them. for fourteen years they did not see them. her father figured they already gave up on finding him and continued on with his life.

on june 10th, just a week ago, they received a note at their door.

_‘ found you. ‘_

_it was all what was written on the note, but her father knew. before she knew it he forced ryouko and hinami to start packing their bags. they could not stay in this area any longer, he said. hinami was confused, and mildly depressed – if they won’t be here anymore, she would not be able to visit the river anymore._

_hinami found out that she had nothing to worry about in that regard a few hours later in the evening. the said yakuza family practically raided her house, and she could see her father very clearly on chokehold by a brawny and wide faced man. she hid in the closet with her mother, but the space between the closet’s doors was just enough for the scene to be clear._

_another yakuza member said he thought he heard something from the closet, and hinami blanched. she stared at her mother, who gave her an apologetic, sad smile. she came near her ear and whispered._

_“hinami… live on.”_

_and ryouko ran out of the closet, making sure hinami is out of sight and gave them a chase. hinami’s throat was already sore from repressing whimpers at the sight of her father choking to his death, but she barely managed to keep it quiet enough for the entire yakuza to leave the house._

_when they finally left, she couldn’t even bring herself to get out of the closet, but started crying inside of it, holding herself, trying to make herself as small as possibly can. maybe i can just disappear like this, she thought._

_she fell asleep like that._

_she woke up the next morning drenched in sweat, laying on the floor sideways. hinami was not sure how did she not wake up she fell down to the floor, considering the fact her body even pushed aside the closet’s door open by itself, but that didn’t bother as much as the blood stained parquet that surrounded her._

_her sense of smell was far too advanced in order to avoid the odor the dry blood left in the house, and she felt her eyes growing watery again, her papa and mama are gone now. she has no one left. the only thing left is their blood and its odor, staying here to haunt her._

_hinami wasn’t ready to leave yet. she didn’t want to leave her house, her memories, and her parents.  she never even had the chance to really experience a normal life with them. she felt like she had spiraled back into the past, when she was too sick to really do anything. she could smell, and hear and see other children from the window smiling and having fun, but could never do anything about it. now her parents were dead, their blood spilt on the floor, and there’s nothing she could do about it. she couldn’t even bury their bodies; the yakuza took them away, too._

_hinami didn’t want to weak. hinami wanted to be able to take action, help herself and those she loved. and she guessed, that she might as well start taking actions today. their house, the memories in it, do not deserve to become soiled by the atrocity committed by it. the house that was a safe haven for so long._

_she stood, going to get water. if she’ll clean here, maybe in time the bloody scene would not only disappear from this world, but also from her mind._

her legs were in the cool water of the river, but hinami could only feel the warmness of the tears falling from her eyes once again. she couldn’t shove the thoughts away from her mind. she’s still alone. ayato said she probably won’t see him a lot, so she couldn’t even count on that. she barely managed to find conversation topics with him today anyway, so the chances he decides to come by from his own will are low.

the tears fell into the river, and she suddenly noticed the fish gathered around her, tickling her legs. she smiled sadly at them. animals always have the kindest hearts. from some reason, the scene only made her want to cry harder. even though she remained relatively silent, small sobs escaped anyway.

she felt a cold breeze hit the back of her bare neck. her hand rose to cover the spot, and she looked down at the water.

there she spotted a long, long creature with blue mane and red eyes, staring at her. its tail rose out of the water and whiplashed at the water, which ended up splashing on her face. it then swiftly swam away, and hinami rubbed her eyes.

for today, she wouldn’t think about what happened. the world calls her to continue on, it seems. it also seems like ayato was mistaken. the creature existed, and she decided, instead of crying, she’ll take action and find out about it for herself.

it was a small step to healing, but if she can take that action and do that for herself, maybe she could grow stronger, move on from what happened to her parents, and make sure nothing similar would ever happen again.

she smiled at the thought, left the river’s edge, and went inside the cabin. today she’ll sleep well.

-

in the morning after, hinami woke up feeling a bit lighter.

even though nothing had really changed, she couldn’t help but think the days ahead could be a slight bit better than before, now that she at least found something to focus on. though first of all, she had to go a start planting the berries and flowers she had brought with her.

it was her mother’s favorite hobby, and while hinami did decide to leave the house for any case those  _people_  come back, she could not bear to think it was the end of her mother’s precious garden she tended to so much. it may be in a different place now, but the legacy would continue, she thought. hinami was not really experienced in raising plants herself, but she did watch her mother enough to remember how to do it well.

she took out the seeds from her suitcase, and went to the door to head out. she opened the door swiftly, ready to start skipping towards the patch of grass she thought was a good choice to start a small garden on.

_“ow!”_

she did not expect seeing ayato at the door. or hit him with the door for that matter.

his hand was hovering over his scrunched up nose, eyes squinting in pain. he was mumblings to himself things like ‘god damn it’ and was trying generally to brush off the pain, but to no avail. hinami’s hands covered her mouth, trying to hide her shock.

“i’m so sorry, ayato kun! i didn’t think you’d be here, i’m so sorry!” her hands now hovered in front of him, and she bit her lips trying to think how exactly she can make it up. in the end, ayato just brushed her off with a wave of the hand and long sigh.

“this is what i get for being thoughtful….” he mumbled, as he threw a package at her. hinami grabbed it, giving it a glance and then looking at ayato, her eyes practically asking him themselves what it was.

“this, is food for the fish in the river.” he replied, gesturing to the package. “you said that this place calms you and all, right? and something about how you liked to feed the fish, yesterday… so here is food they actually like. they’ll also like you better if you feed them this.”

hinami was still wide eyed, but nonetheless nodded. it was nice of him to give to her. if she was going to live here, it’s better for her to get to know what’s good for the environment around her. she also really liked the fish. they seemed to almost understand her, in a way.

“…thank you. that’s really nice of you.” she went and put it on the table she had in the cabin. she would make good use of it later.  

ayato stared at her as she returned to the entrance. “no problem, pipsqueak. just stop being so damn sad, will you?” he said and skipped away from the cabin, ready to disappear again.

“wait!” hinami called out and went after him.

he stopped, and gave her questioning look.

“…i’m going to start a garden here. want to help me?” her eyes were bright, breaming with excitement.

“…okay.”  _i was supposed to say no,_ he thought to himself.

“great, here i meant to start it right there!” she took his hand and led him to the corner behind the cabin that still had enough sunlight reaching to it to be a good choice. “i’ll go bring the supplies! just wait a second, okay?” she smiled so widely, ayato wondered if it was the same teary girl from yesterday.

she returned with a trowel, some gloves for both of them and all the seeds they needed.

“i brought all the flower seeds! i think it’ll be pretty to have it all it this corner.” she said and started tending to the earth.

in not time, ayato and hinami were planting tulips, sunflowers, cosmos, and much more, but there was one plant that stood out to ayato.

“clovers?” he asked. most of the time, people don’t really think of clovers first when flowers are mentioned. he didn’t really expect them to be on the list to plant. hinami smiled softly and nodded.

“yeah. you know… this place had always been kind to me. i always had good luck with it. when i almost drowned here, i somehow managed to get back on land… the animals here seem very kind to me, never really had the luck to meet a hostile one… and i even managed to find a home here. so… i hope these clovers will grow to be four leaved, so that maybe i could give it some good luck, myself, in a way.”

ayato stared at her. she blushed.

“sorry, i guess that sounded stupid.”

and ayato thought that maybe humans, after all, aren’t that bad.

-

it’s been around six months since hinami settled in in the clearing.

she and ayato got along nicely. he came over at least every three days, and even let her ramble on about her love for books and the fact that she is still convinced that the serpent like creature does exist. he didn’t really talk a lot about himself, and it sort of made her sad, but she didn’t dwell on it.

he tried his best to be nice to her, even if he insisted he didn’t and even took her around the mountain and beyond it so she won’t grow too bored. he took care of her even though he obviously didn’t have to, and hinami would always be eternally grateful.

today was a rainy day, and hinami couldn’t really do a lot around the mountain, so she just stayed in her cabin reading her favorite books. it was late evening, and after reading almost half of her favorite novel she thought she would just go to sleep, and hope tomorrow would have better weather.

that is until she heard three knocks on her door. her head snapped to the direction of the sound. ayato never comes over this late. he must be soaking wet outside… she rose on her feet quickly. she didn’t want him to catch a cold.

“ayato kun, you shouldn’t be outside when it’s raining this har-“ she said as she opened the door. only to realize it is not ayato at the door. her face grew pale.

“…found you.” a blond, bulky man said, grinning from ear to ear.

hinami desperately tried to close the door on him, to lock it, to do whatever she can so he won’t get in, but her hands trembled in fear and the terror she felt in her veins paralyzed her.  _the door will not close,_ she realized as the man managed to open the door back with sheer force, even though she was leaning on it will her weight.

“you are just like your father. thought you can run away from me. face me straight on, will you? cowards are even worse than the regular scum i handle.” hinami was backed into the corner between the door of the cabin and the wall, her nose bled from being hit by the door when the man opened it.

“you know how pissed i was when i heard he had a  _daughter_ that survived? what a bad reputation for the white suits. letting something as measly as you to survive the operation. thank goodness you stayed so close. it would have been really hard to find you, otherwise.” he picked her up by her neck. hinami flailed around in his grasp, trying to get him away from her. her fingers tried to claw away his hand, but he grasp was firm.

“you can imagine what was it like to my poor subordinates, right? they kept yelling ‘wer’e sorry, yamori’, ‘we will find her, yamori.’ but they didn’t have what it takes. in the end, only i managed to find you.” he started choking her. hinami retaliated with a well-placed kick, and accidently dropped her.

“bitch!” hinami ran out of the door, jumped right near the edge of the river and almost fell. yamori tailed her, grabbed her by the hair when she was close enough and made her look at him straight in the eye.

“i take back what i said. you are just like your mother. dumb enough to think she could escape. you would have been better off if you just let me choke you, do you prefer drowning instead?” he laughed. hinami roared at his face. he did not know  _anything_ about her mother! he knew nothing about how she sacrificed herself for her!

“well, either way, you are dead, aren’t you?” his smile made him look like the maniac he is. he lifted her up by the hair and she screamed in pain. he was about to move forward and drop her in the river, she knew it. she closes her eyes.

she felt gravity pulling to the solid ground. yamori yelled some curses, and hinami looked up and saw his entire hand was completely twisted. she heard a loud roar behind her and her head snapped to the side.

her eyes widened as she saw a bluish serpent, with dark blue mane and sparkling red eyes. it was out of the water and clear as a day to see. the creature grabbed yamori by his now broken hand into the river. they were now both underwater, hinami could not see what was going on, but blood was rising to the surface of the water.

after a while, yamori’s body rose out of the water, and drifted away from the area as the water flowed. the creature raised his head from the water a few seconds after, staring at hinami, cooing at her direction.

her bloody nose did not matter at this point. she did not need it anyway for this moment, because her breath was completely taken away by what’s in front of her. she gave out a hand, tried to reach to him. the creature hesitantly came closer. her hands were shaking from the rain and the excitement, but finally calmed as they settled on the creature’s face.

“so i can… tell ayato… i was right.” she sighed heavily, tears were forming in her eyes. she didn’t even know what she was crying about. if it was about the discovery, or yamori, she really didn’t know at this moment.

without even a blink of an eye, though, hinami saw the scales of the creature ripping and flying away from him, and in the stead of a long reptile what stood in front of her was a simple teenage boy, standing in the waist-tall water, looking as if he was only out for a swim. hinami’s tears fell to ground and her heart race speeded up.

“yeah, you can.” ayato ran a hand through his dark blue hair, and hinami just suddenly wailed as she crashed on him. she latched bare torso and her head went straight to the crook of his neck. now crying hysterically.

ayato did not know how comfort very well, but for now, he hugged her back tightly.


End file.
